Document 8: Margaret Sanger to Antoinette Field, 8 December 1930, Reel 33, Papers of Margaret Sanger, 1900-1966, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Introduction
This letter was a response to a draft of the first annual report for the Harlem Branch clinic, which was written by Antoinette Field, the supervising nurse at the clinic in 1930 and 1931. In the report, Field had used the word "laziness" to describe Harlem clinic clients.[63] Sanger chastised Field about this language and suggested that Field's use of the term reflected personal bias. This document provides an example of Sanger's vigilance against bias and prejudice in the dealings of Harlem Branch staff with women who came to the clinic for services.[64]
December 8, 1930
Miss Antoinette Field
Birth Control Clinical Research Bureau,
2352 Seventh Avenue,
New York City.Dear Mrs. Field,
Thank you for the report on the Harlem Clinic for February 1st to November 1st.
Does the total $455.00 include supplies? Never, never in your report state what you do not know. The word "laziness" is out of date. On what do you base such but your own notion. Try to make reports accurate based on knowledge.
I am glad to have this report and wish to thank you for your letter that accompanied it.
Sincerely yours,[A]
P.S. Mrs. Sanger left the above memo for you when she left for the South last week-end.
A. Carbon copy without letterhead or signature.
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